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Former pro finds success on field again

By ERNEST HOOPER
Published February 16, 2007

For some, stress would be having to catch a football in the middle of an NFL field with two defenders hoping to knock you into oblivion and leave you on the turf in a crumpled heap.

That was cake, however, for Tony Bland. The former Florida A&M receiver played four years in the NFL, hauling in passes and absorbing blows for the Minnesota Vikings.

Anxiety, he discovered, came in his post NFL-life. He turned to working for a mortgage company while battling the hurt that came from seeing his football career end too soon.

"It was a stressful job for me," said Bland, who lives in New Tampa. "But I joined a church Victorious Life in Pasco County and they had a good youth program. I did a couple of things with the youth program, and it was amazing. I didn't even know I had a gift or a talent for coaching."

The revelation has led Bland to start his own sports camp management company, Protential Sports (protential football.com). The company offers after-school, football and summer camps. Bland, who is also an assistant coach for the Tampa Catholic football team, marvels over the impact he can have on young people.

"Everything started rolling when I started giving back a little bit," Bland said. "I started trying to help kids and it's working out wonderfully.

"For a minute, I was bitter at sports because I wanted to keep playing and no one really wanted to pick me up. But I got back connected."

Like a lot of people who work with the young, Bland stresses the tenets necessary to create a successful path in life. However, his on-field tutelage is distinguished by an emphasis on techniques he gathered during his career. Bland says some of his best lessons came from future Hall of Famer Cris Carter, who was a teammate during his Vikings tenure.

In a series of eight- to ten-week camps that begin Sunday, Bland and Storm quarterback John Kaleo will lead a group of instructors who will emphasize physical and mental approaches for receivers, running backs, quarterbacks and cornerbacks.

"We'll have video analysis at the beginning," Bland said. "Throughout the program, we'll shape them and work on techniques. At the end, we'll tape them again and show them what they've learned.

"There's a lot to be discovered by kids."

Bland will have additional training sessions during the summer, and said eventually he would like to build an indoor sports training facility. For now, he's just thrilled to build up kids.

"The kids I've gotten involved with have gotten so much better, and the relationships I've been able to build are sincere," Bland said.

As for the mortgage business, his wife, Nyree, has taken on that challenge and is doing well. "She's a lot stronger than me in that department," Bland said with a laugh.

The transition from pro athlete to private citizen sounds easy enough, given the high salaries they garner, but on more than one occasion we've read tales about players who spiral out of control because they miss the limelight, structure and camaraderie of the game.

It's good to see Bland is on an upward spiral, and it's all the more amazing to me considering that when I first met him he was just a skinny kid catching passes across the middle for Pinellas Park High.

That's all I'm saying.

Ernest Hooper can be reached at hooper@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3406.

[Last modified February 16, 2007, 01:47:34]